What are so-called gullwing doors? Can you retrofit it?

Gullwing is a name for the wing doors that were installed in certain Mercedes-Benz models. Gullwing doors were installed in the Mercedes-Benz 50 SL in the 300s, for example. The main thing about Gullwing doors is that they open upwards. Gullwing doors were created for the Mercedes-Benz SL 300 in 1952 and introduced in the street version of the vehicle in 1954. The Mercedes-Benz SL 300 was built as a racing car with a tubular racing frame (tubular space frame) and the gullwing doors were intended to support the lightweight construction.

Designation Gullwing for wing doors

The term gullwing is used as a term for special Sliding doors used in the automotive industry and describes the special doors of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. Gullwing doors are still a special feature of vehicles like the Lamborghini Aventador and they are often retrofitted by some tuners. However, as LSD doors and not as wing doors in the sense of the gullwing doors. In the 70s and 80s, the real gullwing doors were actually used in the tuning sector to create extraordinary vehicles. The SGS Gullwing is characteristic of the Gullwing wing doors. SGS Gullwing is the name of a tuning vehicle based on the Mercedes 500 SEC. The vehicle was created by the “Hamburger Styling Garage Spezial-Karosserien GmbH” and only three models are known that are in Germany.

SGS Gullwing - what did the conversion cost?

The SGS Gullwing vehicle was based on the Mercedes 500 SEC and the purchase price of the vehicle had to be paid first. The conversion to a vehicle with double doors cost around 83.000 D-Marks. The SGS Gullwing cost around 200.000 D-Marks in total. Only comparatively few people were able to enjoy owning an SGS Gullwing.

Known vehicles with gullwing doors

Gullwing doors are best known from Mercedes-Benz and Lamborghini vehicles. In most of the vehicles that were produced in series, however, the doors have not caught on. Whether the Tesla Model X will make an exception here remains to be seen. The doors still have to open if the car has had an accident, and if the vehicle is on the roof, the gullwing doors are difficult or impossible to open. in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG there is a detachable variant for this case. This means that the doors will (hopefully) pop off after a rollover. The wing doors are also particularly well-known from the film series “Back to the Future”. Double doors can be seen there in the DeLorean DMC-12. Gullwing gullwing doors can also be found in the Gumpert Apollo super sports car, which was produced in small numbers. The Gumpert Sportwagen Manufaktur, based in Altenburg, produced the vehicle from 2005 to 2016. The Gumpert Apollo super sports car is a vehicle that was fitted with gullwing doors in series and is even more recent.

Gullwing doors retrofitting

The gullwing doors are often confused with scissor doors / LSD doors. While the scissor doors extend like the eponymous scissors, gullwing doors open from the bottom up. Vehicles with gullwing doors can still be found in the tuning area. Before an interested tuner can install gullwing doors in Germany, the legal side should be clarified. The currently much stricter TÜV regulations should make subsequent installation in the sense of the Gullwing SGS almost impossible in this country. At least that's the case with a two-door model. If the vehicle has four doors and a tailgate, it might be easier to convert the rear doors into gullwing doors. But it will be difficult in any case. The changes are ultimately an intervention in the vehicle statics (the roof is significantly changed), so that an acceptance, if at all, is only possible with complex test procedures and high costs. It looks much easier with the so-called LSD Doors. There is almost always a TÜV here Teilegutachten to. Registration is thus possible.

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